Warrior

Chapter 6-1

Chapter 6

I pulled my bike in next to Chris’s and shut it off. Music and laughter filled the air, along with the crash of waves below the lighthouse. The party was in full swing, and a couple of boys stumbled as they approached the parking lot. One had car keys in his hand, and neither he nor his friend looked fit to drive. Why humans thought they could drink themselves into this state and still function correctly was beyond me.

I veered to intercept them. “Hold up, guys. You’re not planning to drive, are you?”

“Nah, just getting some beer from my buddy’s trunk,” said one of them. Judging by his slur, the last thing he needed was more alcohol.

I watched them grab a case of beer from a car and head back to the party. I followed them at a slower pace. When I’d talked to Chris earlier, I’d been surprised to learn he was at a party. Since the night at the club two weeks ago, Sara hadn’t left the house much, except for school. I was glad she’d recovered enough from the vampire attack to go out with her friends again.

There was no sign of Chris or Sara when I reached the party, but I knew they were there because I could sense her nearby. I saw her two werewolf friends standing with a group of teenagers, and I scanned the crowd for her face. A white van blocked my view, so I walked around it to stand near the lighthouse.

My chest rumbled in displeasure at the sight of Sara in another man’s arms. They were dancing and laughing together, and she smiled at the blond man in a way she had never smiled at me. I was still getting used to the intense protective urges she awoke in me. This surge of possessiveness was something new. I’d known the bond would grow the more I saw her, but I hadn’t expected this, at least not so soon.

Was the blond guy her date? The idea of her with someone else made my gut clench, but I knew it was a possibility. Sara was seventeen and beautiful, and she’d had a life before I found her. There was no reason why she wouldn’t date.

“Hi. Are you one of Dylan’s friends from Portland?”

I tore my eyes from Sara to look at the tall girl with short, dark hair who had walked up to me.

“No.” I had no idea who Dylan was, and I didn’t care, unless he was the blond man dancing with Sara. My gaze went back to them.

“Oh.” The girl moved closer. “You want to get a drink or maybe dance?”

“No, thanks.”

I promptly forgot about the girl when Sara’s partner dipped her, making her laugh. My jaw tightened, and my Mori made angry noises, wanting me to go up to them and pull her away from the guy. There was nothing suggestive in their movements, but it was impossible not to see the man was interested in more than dancing.

As the song ended, her body tensed and she began to scan the crowd for someone. My pulse leapt. Was it possible she felt my presence the same way I sensed hers?

I got my answer when her eyes landed on me and she frowned. Then she pulled away from her dance partner and stalked off in the other direction with the blond man following her. They spoke, and he went to the white van while she stayed where she was. I approached her, and she turned to glower at me.

“What are you doing here?”

I smelled beer on her breath, and I glared after the man. If he returned with more beer for her, he and I were going to have a talk. My gaze returned to her, and I noticed she was flushed and slightly tipsy. We were very tolerant of human alcohol, and I wondered how much she had consumed to make her this way.

“Obviously protecting you from yourself,” I said. “Are you drunk?”

She drew herself up. “No, I’m not drunk! And even if I was, it would be none of your business.”

“You are my business. Whether you like it or not, you are one of us and we protect our own.” I protect my own.

Her eyes blazed. “First of all, I am nobody’s business, and I don’t belong to you or your people or anyone else. This bossy act might work on little kids, but it won’t work on me, and if I want to party with my friends or drink or do anything else, I will.”

She spun away, stumbling, and I grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.

“You are drunk.”

Before she could retort, her friend returned.

“Everything okay here?” he asked.

Sara smiled at him. “Peachy. My…cousin was worried that I might be drinking too much. He’s a lot older than me and way too uptight.”

I almost snorted at her description of me. Only a blind man would believe there was anything familial between the two of us, at least on my side. She felt something too; she just didn’t know it yet. Or she didn’t want to admit it.

Her friend wasn’t buying her explanation.

“Cousin, huh?”

“Distant cousins, practically unrelated,” I responded, and the look in his eyes told me he understood my meaning.

He looked between Sara and me. “Listen, if there is something going on between you two, I –”

She made a derisive sound. “Yeah, not in this lifetime.” Turning to him as if I wasn’t there, she said, “I think I’ll go see what Roland is up to. Maybe I’ll see you again later.”

She stalked off toward the beach. I wanted to go to her and make sure she was okay, but I decided it would be wise to give her a few minutes to cool down first. A smile curved my lips. She was beautiful even when she was furious.

“You’re not really her cousin, are you?”

I looked at the blond man, who was still standing nearby. “No.”

He nodded and stared after her. “She’s something else.”

“Yes, she is,” I said more to myself.

The man surprised me when he held out his hand. “Samson.”

I shook his hand. “Nikolas.”

“Can I ask what the deal is with you and her? She didn’t mention a boyfriend, and you don’t exactly seem like her type.”

“What type is that?”

He grinned. “I’m not sure, but I hope it’s blond drummers. No offense.”

“None taken.” I couldn’t help but like the guy, even if my Mori wanted me to hit him for touching Sara. “I’d better go check on her.”

Samson chuckled. “Good luck with that.”

I saw Chris as I approached the bluff overlooking the beach, and I knew Sara had never been out of his sight even when she was out of mine. He gave me a look that said “better you than me” and pointed at a lone figure down the beach away from the fire. Not that I needed to be told where she was; I could sense her from here.

I watched her from a distance for a few minutes before I joined her. She didn’t look up as I neared, but she knew I was there despite my quiet approach.

“Please go away,” she said quietly. “I promise I won’t have any fun or fall into the ocean in my drunken state if you’ll leave me alone.”

I hated the sadness in her voice and knowing I had put it there. She’d looked so happy and carefree with Samson, and it bothered me that she reacted the opposite way to me. She didn’t know what we were to each other, and it was clear she was still upset by the things I’d told her last week. I wished there was something I could say to take away her pain, but all I could do for now was try to reassure her.

I sat beside her, and my Mori almost purred with happiness at being so close to its mate. After watching her from a distance for so long, a feeling of contentment settled over me at her nearness.

“I’ve heard that some orphans take the transition to the Mohiri life well and others struggle to adapt. Eventually, they all come to love our way of life.”

She didn’t look at me. “Maybe that’s because their life before wasn’t that great. It’s got to suck being a little kid with a demon wreaking havoc in your head. But I’m not like them.”

“No, you’re not.” If she only knew how different she was.

“Why?”

I thought about the best way to answer her. “You are very strong. I don’t mean physically. Like I told you before, you have amazing control over your Mori; it’s almost effortless.”

She shifted restlessly, and I wondered if her Mori was reacting to being so close to mine. If so, was she even aware of it?

“You don’t seem to have any trouble with yours,” she said.

“I’ve had many years to learn this much control, and it’s still not as good as yours.” If she only knew how much I’d struggled with my Mori as a boy, and how hard it was to restrain the demon when she was near. It would never harm her, but it couldn’t understand why we weren’t trying to claim our mate.

“Oh.” She rubbed her knees nervously. “But you do control it, right? You’re not going to go all Linda Blair on me, are you? Because I’ve had all the craziness I can handle for one year.”

I laughed at her ability to find humor in the situation. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

She turned her face toward me, allowing me to see the sadness that still lingered in her eyes. “How long is this going to go on? I just want to go back to some semblance of a normal life.”

“Sara –”

“I know what you’re going to say. How normal can it be when I’m immortal and everyone else is not? Why can’t I have it for now, at least until I have to leave?” she asked desperately.

I sighed softly, hating that I was going to crush her hopes of having a normal life. But if she was ever going to accept that she couldn’t go back to the way things were, I had to be honest with her. About the danger, at least.

“That might have been possible before the vampire found you. You don’t know what they’re like; once they decide they want something, it’s like a predator scenting their prey. And you are the one that got away.”

She trembled, and my arm ached to wrap itself around her shoulders. But I knew my touch would not be welcome.

“The werewolves don’t think the vampires will enter their territory,” she said.

“I hope they’re right, and I wish I could tell you this will all go away, but I won’t lie to you. I believe you are in danger here, and I won’t leave you unprotected as long as that danger exists.”

She stood. “Just do me a favor and don’t act like every person you see is out to get me. It is possible that some boys might actually like me.” She walked around me and headed back to the party.

“Ya znayu,” I said softly. I know.

She looked back at me. “Did you say something?”

“I said I’m sure they do.”

I stayed there for a few minutes after she’d left. Chris would keep an eye on her, and I didn’t want to upset her more. I wished I knew what to do or say to make her world right again, but I was at a loss.

When I returned to the party, I found a spot in the shadow of the lighthouse to stay out of sight. Sara was with her two werewolf friends and she wore a smile again, though it wasn’t as bright as the one she had before I’d made my presence known.

I knew I should probably go. She was safe here with her friends and Chris, and I only managed to distress her. But every time I thought of leaving, I couldn’t make myself walk away.

“She’s really gotten to you.”

I’d been so focused on Sara that I hadn’t even heard Chris approach. He stood beside me and watched her with her friends.

“I’ve never seen you look at a female the way you look at her.”

I glanced over at him. “What way is that?”

He smiled. “Like a blind man seeing for the first time.”

I scoffed, but I had no rebuke because I was afraid he might be right.

“How bad is it?” he asked with more seriousness. “I’m not going to have to restrain you if she goes near another male, am I?”

Sara laughed at something Roland said, and my chest warmed in response. “It’s stronger than I expected it would be this soon,” I admitted. “I don’t think I realized how strong until I saw her with the other guy.”

“I guess it’s true what they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” His voice didn’t hold any of his usual humor. He laid a hand on my shoulder. “Maybe you should stay away for a while, until she’s more willing to accept you. The more you see her, the harder it will be to keep your distance from her.”